Mr. Speaker, last week a motion from the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics was overwhelmingly supported by a vote held in this House, 277 to 2 in favour of extending Information Commissioner John Reid's term by one year.

Can the government advise this House if Commissioner Reid's term has been extended on the order of this House, and if not, why not?

Mr. Speaker, both the rank and file soldiers and now a parliamentary committee have rejected the government's hand-picked military ombudsman. The minister could have known that someone who acted as legal counsel to the defence officials who sought to limit the powers of the ombudsman would be rejected by the soldiers. They fear retaliation and reprisals for speaking out.

Why is the Prime Minister so afraid of having an independent watchdog for the military?

Mr. Speaker, at the moment as the position stands, a highly skilled person who had extensive experience in the government and was capable of representing our men and women with a great deal of integrity was put before the committee and was rejected by a vote of two of the opposition parties. I do not think the hon. member can lift that up into being a rejection by our armed forces.

What our armed forces want is somebody who is capable, competent and professional and who will act in their interests. I believe that Mr. Côté has those capacities and I am willing to continue discussing that with the committee, but let us not say that our armed forces have rejected it. This was a political decision that two parties--

Mr. Speaker, there is much concern about the political, social and economic situation in Haiti. The future of our Haitian friends is in their own hands, of course, but it also depends on the efforts of the international community.

Canada hosted the Montreal International Conference on Haiti on June 16 and 17. Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell us the outcome of this conference?

Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, people should know that Canada is determined to promote democracy in Haiti, and nothing will stop us.

This conference in Montreal was an opportunity to review the progress and the problems one year after the mobilization of the international community. The Haitian government has identified its priorities in terms of security, energy, social gains and rapid job creation. We have mobilized $40 million for these immediate priorities of the Haitian government in these areas.

A proposal was made to the government to give Elections Canada an international mission to monitor Haitian elections—

Mr. Speaker, the agriculture science strategy received under access to information last week says at eight different places that when Nappan and Kentville experimental farms close, research will be moved to other provinces.

Why did the President of the Treasury Board tell the House on Friday that there would be no diminishing of research in Nova Scotia when the plan says that both farms in Nova Scotia are going to close?

Mr. Speaker, there is no plan to close the Kentville station. As minister, I receive recommendations all the time from various sources on actions that I may want to take. We decided not to take that action.

Mr. Speaker, it is not a memo, it is not a notice and it is not a recommendation, because recommendation number one for Nova Scotia is to close Nappan and step two is to close Kentville.

The Liberals have already announced they are closing Nappan. They cannot say it is a memo and they are not paying any attention to it.

Another answer we always get is that they say they want to put money into research and not into facilities, but this document says they are putting $232 million into new buildings across the country. In Nova Scotia, they are just closing both farms.

Mr. Speaker, let me make it clear about the approach we are taking in science. We want to ensure that we put the maximum amount actually on the science and the least amount on overhead. Over the next while we will engage in a very public, open and transparent process by which we can determine how we can take maximum advantage of the investments we are making in science from this government.

Mr. Speaker, instead of drawing up plans for achieving the 0.7% objective for international aid, the Minister of Finance is questioning how serious the European Union's efforts toward that objective are.

Instead of hemming and hawing, when will the Minister of Finance announce his plan to enable Canada to achieve its international aid objective of 0.7% of GDP by 2015, rather than the present target year of 2035?

Mr. Speaker, we have obviously indicated that we wish to reach the objective and we are prepared to make a timeline commitment when we are confident that Canada can in fact keep that promise.

I would note that we have in the meantime invested $3.4 billion in new foreign aid. We have invested $342 million in the fight against deadly diseases in Africa. We have been leading the world in debt relief, and in Bill C-48 there is an incremental $500 million which that party is proposing to vote against.

Mr. Speaker, the boreal forest is an integral part of our country's ecosystem. It is incumbent upon us to undertake every possible action to protect this magnificent forest. What are the minister and the ministry doing to ensure the sustainability of the boreal forest?

Mr. Speaker, in response to the hon. member's excellent question, in fact, not only is the boreal forest important to Canada, but it is very important to the world. My department is actively engaged with the industry, the provinces, the territories, academia and conservation organizations. We are going to continue these discussions to find ways to help the communities maintain the environmental sustainability of the boreal forest with good economy.